Movie review: A well-spun 'Spider-Man'

Thursday

Jul 6, 2017 at 9:26 AMJul 6, 2017 at 1:55 PM

By Al AlexanderFor The Patriot Ledger

What happens when your head gets too big for your Spidey mask? If it happens in “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” plan on a helluva fantastic time. Although Spidey might well disagree. He takes a beating physically and emotionally, as we watch him hilariously struggle through the growing pains of learning – the hard way – that great responsibility comes with great power.

It marks the start of the third “Spider-Man” franchise in 15 years – exactly the age of Spidey himself in “Homecoming,” a double-entendre title representative of both the anxieties the recently deputized member of The Avengers feels as his school’s big social event nears and the web-slinger’s shift away from Columbia Pictures to his more natural surroundings at Marvel Studios. And the move to warmer climes not only rejuvenates the kid; it makes him the new king of the Marvel Universe. See “Homecoming” and tell me there’s an Avengers character you love more. I don’t expect to hear from you because I know I’m right. And I’m right because the magnificent Tom Holland proves I am with a performance that turns the charm and charisma up to 11.

But then, you already know that from that

little tease he provided in last year’s equally terrific “Captain America: Civil War,” when Iron Man asked Stark Industries’ No. 1 intern to help out with that little in-house mess over in Germany. In case you don’t remember, director Jon Watts (“Cop Car”) niftily reminds via a crude iPhone video Holland’s Peter Parker filmed during the showdown with Chris Evans’ Captain America at Leipzig-Halle International Airport. Peter is dying to show it to his fellow brainiacs at his school in Queens – one girl in particular. Her name is Liz (tall, willowy and gorgeous Laura Harrier), the certified fox Peter longs to invite to homecoming. His urge to show and tell grows exponentially when he overhears her telling her besties she’s got a mad crush on the latest YouTube sensation, Spider-Man.

What’s a masked superhero to do? That’s for you to find out, but suffice it to say that if you’re a fan of John Hughes movies like “Sixteen Candles,” you’re in for a treat. But unlike Molly Ringwald, Peter has more on his plate than just the heartbreak of amore. He also has a nasty underground arms manufacturer to deal with in Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes, the owner-operator of a New York City salvage company. In cleaning up the wreckage from the alien attack at the end of “The Avengers,” Toomes happens upon a pile of junk with special otherworldly powers that will not only make him rich, they’ll soon make him “The Vulture.”

The script – credited to more writers than there have been actors playing Spidey – has fun with Keaton sprouting mechanical wings, ala his Oscar-nominated character in “Birdman.” Only difference is that Vulture is no hero; he’s a menace. And despite orders from Tony Stark (an underused Robert Downey Jr.) not to get involved, Peter unilaterally chucks the training wheels off his multi-million-dollar spider suit and goes after Toomes full bore.

Like those old grainy videos of the pioneers of aviation you’ve seen lifting off and then rapidly crashing in a heap, Spidey sustains his own string of spectacular rough landings; in turn putting innocents – including his beloved Liz – in lethal jeopardy. These result in the film’s two best action scenes: one atop the Washington Monument; and the other aboard the Staten Island Ferry in the shadow of The Statue of Liberty. To say more would be unfair. Just know you’ll be sufficiently wowed. Being that Watts, like Peter, is just getting used to his new powers as a big-time director with millions of dollars of electronic toys at his disposal, there are moments when he overextends himself and falls smack on his face. Most of those occasions occur during the flat, indecipherable fight scenes, particularly one aboard a crashing Stark transport jet that makes a shambles of a large section of Coney Island.

Luckily, those are few and far between. The meat of “Homecoming” is Peter’s coming of age in the worst environment known to man: high school. Like any other skinny, nerdy geek packing a tube of Clearasil, Peter is targeted by bullies calling him Penis Parker. And the teasing only gets worse when the rumor is floated that Peter is good friends with Spider-Man. The source of that juicy gossip is Peter’s best pal, and the film’s best asset, Ned (a breakout turn by newcomer Jacob Batalon). He’s chubby, wears a fedora and likes to build Death Stars out of LEGO. Girls don’t exactly go for him. But landing a hot girlfriend like Liz isn’t as important to him as ascending to the role of “the man in the chair.” You know, the guy who coordinates superhero missions from behind a bank of nifty computer screens back at headquarters.

For me, the awkward Peter-Ned bromance forms the basis for everything “Homecoming” is: Clever, smart, knowing and utterly relatable to every kid who suffered through high school by being labeled “uncool.” The irony is that Ned might not be hip in the eyes of his classmates and members of his national champion academic club, but he’s supercool to us. In many ways, Batalon and Holland remind me a lot of Michael Cera and Jonah Hill in “Superbad;” nerds who get the hippest girls – not because their handsome, but because they’re smart and sincere. And it’s that non-stop sincerity that fuels this “Spider-Man” more than any before it. And that’s all because of Holland.

Unlike Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield (both in their late 20s) before him, Holland looks like a real kid – probably because he is (19 years old during filming), and that fact solves one of the biggest problems with the web-slinger’s previous incarnations. Same for Peter’s love interests: Liz and his not-so-secret admirer, Michelle (a glammed down, but still beautiful Zendaya). They both look like real high school kids, cementing an air of believability in a film that makes a mockery of gravity and physics.

Another welcome correction to the “Spidey” oeuvre is “Homecoming’s” diverse cast, which includes African-Americans like Harrier, Zendaya and Bokeem Woodbine (the scene-stealer from Season 2 of “Fargo”) as Toomes’ right-hand man; and a Filipino-American in Batalon. We also get a handful of AARP-card holders in Downey, Tyne Daly, Marisa Tomei (firing off the film’s best line) as Peter’s Aunt May, and the film’s best scene-stealer, “Iron Man” director Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan, the flustered liaison between Peter and his chief benefactor, Tony Stark. And speaking of oldies but goodies, Chris Evans also pops up in a series of humorous cameos as the ageless Captain America; appearing in PSAs intended to keep rebellious high school kids on the straight and narrow.

Best of all, Holland’s Spidey isn’t overburdened with mind-numbing angst. He’s just a normal stupid, unsophisticated kid with ambitions that exceed his reach. He’s also self-deprecating and self-aware. He knows who he is, what he wants and what he needs – he just isn’t old enough yet to get it. The results are a funny, candy-colored story that comes front-loaded with heart and joy. Sure, there are moments of darkness courtesy of Keaton’s megalomaniac, but for most of its zippy two-hour runtime, “Homecoming” is great family fun, with a valuable moral about achieving the greatest superpower of all – maturity.